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DEGUMZ™
PLA 100

Enzyme for Edible Oil Refining (Enzymatic Degumming)

Best For Vegetable oil refiners processing soybean, sunflower, canola/rapeseed, rice bran, and similar oils where gums/phospholipids affect refining performance.

GEPZYMES DEGUMZ™ PLA 100 is a phospholipase-based enzyme solution developed for enzymatic degumming of crude vegetable oils. In edible oil refining, phospholipids and gums can increase losses, complicate separation, and reduce downstream efficiency. DEGUMZ™ PLA 100 helps improve gum conversion/removal, enabling smoother refining and better oil recovery. It is designed as an application-focused solution backed by process guidance for lab and plant evaluation.

Applications:

Benefits

  • Better gum/phospholipid removal support
  • Improved refining efficiency
  • Potential reduction in oil losses
  • Lower downstream process load
  • More consistent degumming performance
  • Application support from trial to plant scale
  • Supports enzymatic degumming by acting on phospholipid gums
  • Improves gum handling and separation efficiency
  • Helps reduce refining losses linked to incomplete degumming
  • Supports better downstream refining performance

What It Does

Final dosage and addition point to be optimized through trials based on oil type, phosphorus level, moisture, temperature, and retention time.

Phospholipase enzymes act on phospholipids present in crude oil, converting them into more process-manageable forms. This improves separation behavior during degumming and can support better oil recovery and reduced process load in later refining stages.

Powder enzyme to be diluted

FAQ – GEPZYMES DEGUMZ™ PLA 100

What is GEPZYMES DEGUMZ™ PLA 100 used for?

GEPZYMES DEGUMZ™ PLA 100 is a phospholipase-based enzyme solution used in enzymatic degumming of crude vegetable oils. It is designed to help improve gum/phospholipid conversion and support better refining performance in edible oil processing. Enzymatic degumming is used in industry to reduce oil losses in degumming compared with conventional approaches in many cases. 

It can be evaluated for multiple vegetable oils such as soybean, sunflower, canola/rapeseed, rice bran, and other crude edible oils, depending on phosphorus level, gum profile, and refinery conditions. Final suitability should always be confirmed through trials.

Degumming is typically one of the first refining steps after crude oil extraction. Its purpose is to remove phospholipids (“gums”) and related impurities before downstream refining operations. This is a standard industry principle and is widely described in edible oil refining literature. 

Enzymatic degumming is often selected when processors want to improve gum conversion, reduce neutral oil loss, and increase yield, especially in oils with challenging phospholipid profiles. Industry sources describe lower oil loss and higher neutral oil yield as key advantages in suitable systems.

It is designed to support better gum handling and separation, which may help reduce losses associated with incomplete degumming and downstream refining load. Actual improvement depends on crude oil quality, plant setup, operating conditions, and process control.

Yes. Soya lecithin processing is closely linked to the degumming stage of soybean oil refining, since crude lecithin is recovered from gums/phosphatides. DEGUMZ™ PLA 100 can be evaluated as part of a lecithin-focused degumming program (with process optimization based on your lecithin quality target). Classic oilseed processing references note that phosphatides/gums are removed first by degumming to yield crude lecithin.

No. DEGUMZ™ PLA 100 is positioned as a phospholipase (degumming-focused), while lipase-based products are generally used for other applications such as fat modification, splitting, or esterification/transesterification (depending on grade and process).

No. DEGUMZ™ PLA 100 is a process aid for degumming, not a replacement for the complete refining sequence. It should be integrated into your existing refining process and optimized with your plant conditions.

Typical performance depends on:

  • Crude oil type and phospholipid composition
  • Initial phosphorus/gum level
  • Moisture / water addition strategy
  • Temperature
  • Mixing efficiency
  • Retention time (reaction time)
  • pH/conditioning (where applicable in process design)

Lab testing is the first step, but plant or pilot trials are strongly recommended before commercial use. Lab trials help shortlist dosage and conditions, while plant trials confirm real-world separation behavior, yield impact, and downstream process response.

To recommend a suitable trial plan, it helps to share:

  • Oil type (soy, sunflower, canola, etc.)
  • Current degumming/refining process flow
  • Typical phosphorus level (if available)
  • Current degumming chemistry/method
  • Temperature and retention time
  • Main problem (yield loss, high P, separation issue, etc.)
  • Target outcome (yield, phosphorus reduction, lecithin quality, etc.)

It can be evaluated for both batch and continuous process systems, depending on your degumming configuration and available retention time. The addition point and reaction control need to be adapted to your plant design.

In many enzymatic degumming programs, processors aim to reduce total process load and improve efficiency. However, the exact effect on chemical consumption depends on your current process and the final optimized refining scheme. Industry sources commonly list lower reagent/water use as a potential benefit in suitable enzymatic systems. (technoilogy.it)

Common performance indicators include:

  • Phosphorus reduction (before/after)
  • Gum separation behavior
  • Neutral oil loss / yield recovery
  • Soapstock or sludge generation trend
  • Downstream refining stability
  • Final oil quality parameters (as applicable)
Oils and Fats

OLEOZYM™ FS 410

Lipase blend for fat splitting applications in oleochemical processing and downstream value addition.

OILRECOV™ LIP 210

Lipase blend designed to reduce refining losses and improve oil recovery from soapstock-prone systems.

LIPOMOD™ SL 320

Lipase blend for specialty fats and structured lipid modification without hydrogenation routes.

SPREADZ™ LM 340

Lipase-based enzyme solution for margarine and spread fat systems requiring stable texture and plasticity.

DEGUMZ™ PLA 100

Phospholipase solution for enzymatic degumming of vegetable oils with improved gum/phospholipid removal.

OLEOZYM™ ET 420

Industrial lipase solution for esterification and transesterification processes requiring better selectivity.

BIOFUELZ™ UCO 510

Proprietary blended enzyme program for used cooking oil and recovered oils with variable quality.

TALLOWZYM™ TF 530

Lipase blend developed for animal fats and tallow processing with variable and hard-to-handle streams.

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